Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice

Description

Often described as a public policy “bible,” Weimer and Vining remains the essential primer it ever was. Now in its sixth edition, Policy Analysis provides a strong conceptual foundation of the rationales for and the limitations to public policy. It offers practical advice about how to do policy analysis, but goes a bit deeper to demonstrate the application of advanced analytical techniques through the use of case studies. Updates to this edition include: A chapter dedicated to distinguishing between policy analysis, policy research, stakeholder analysis, and research about the policy process. An extensively updated chapter on policy problems as market and governmental failure that explores the popularity of Uber and its consequences. The presentation of a property rights perspective in the chapter on government supply to help show the goal tensions that arise from mixed ownership. An entirely new chapter on performing analysis from the perspective of a public agency and a particular program within the agency’s portfolio: public agency strategic analysis (PASA). A substantially rewritten chapter on cost–benefit analysis, to better prepare students to become producers and consumers of the types of cost–benefit analyses they will encounter in regulatory analysis and social policy careers. A new introductory case with a debriefing that provides advice to help students immediately begin work on their own projects. Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practices remains a comprehensive, serious, and rich introduction to policy analysis for students in public policy, public administration, and business programs. Title Copyright Dedication Contents Detailed Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Boxes Preface Acknowledgments PART I Introduction to Public Policy Analysis 1 Preview Reducing the U.S. Kidney Transplant Shortage Debriefing Write to Your Client Understand the Policy Problem Be Explicit About Values Specify Concrete Policy Alternatives Predict and Value Impacts Consider the Trade-Offs Make a Recommendation For Discussion 2 What Is Policy Analysis? Policy Analysis in Perspective Policy Analysis as a Profession A Closer Look at Analytical Functions Basic Preparation for Policy Analysis For Discussion 3 Toward Professional Ethics Analytical Roles Value Conflicts Ethical Code or Ethos? For Discussion PART II Conceptual Foundations for Problem Analysis 4 Efficiency and the Idealized Competitive Model The Efficiency Benchmark: The Competitive Economy Market Efficiency: The Meaning of Social Surplus Caveats: Models and Reality Conclusion For Discussion 5 Rationales for Public Policy: Market Failures Public Goods Externalities Natural Monopoly Information Asymmetry Conclusion For Discussion 6 Rationales for Public Policy: Other Limitations of the Competitive Framework Thin Markets: Few Sellers or Few Buyers The Source and Acceptability of Preferences The Problem of Uncertainty Intertemporal Allocation: Are Markets Myopic? Adjustment Costs Macroeconomic Dynamics Conclusion For Discussion 7 Rationales for Public Policy: Distributional and Other Goals Social Welfare beyond Pareto Efficiency Substantive Values Other Than Efficiency Some Cautions in Interpreting Distributional Consequences Choosing Distributional Values Instrumental Values Conclusion For Discussion 8 Limits to Public Intervention: Government Failures Problems Inherent in Direct Democracy Problems Inherent in Representative Government Problems Inherent in Bureaucratic Supply Problems Inherent in Decentralization Conclusion For Discussion 9 Policy Problems as Market and Government Failure: The Madison Taxicab Policy Analysis Example Postscript: Technology Makes the 24/7 Rule Irrelevant The Relationship between Market and Government Failures Conclusion For Discussion PART III Conceptual Foundations for Solution Analysis 10 Correcting Market and Government Failures: Generic Policies Freeing, Facilitating, and Simulating Markets Using Subsidies and Taxes to Alter Incentives Establishing Rules Supplying Goods through Nonmarket Mechanisms Providing Insurance and Cushions Conclusion For Discussion 11 Adoption The Big Picture: Policy Process Frameworks and Theories Practical Approach to Assessing and Influencing Political Feasibility Political Strategies with Arenas Conclusion For Discussion 12 Implementation Prerequisite: Sound Logic Identifying the Links in the Chain: The Assembly Metaphor Roles in the Implementation Process Implementation Analysis Techniques Policy Outcomes: Uncertainty and Error Correction Understanding the Implications of Repeated Interaction Conclusion For Discussion 13 Government Provision: Drawing Organizational Boundaries Provision or Production? Production Costs, Bargaining Costs, and Opportunism Costs in Contracting Predicting Bargaining and Opportunism Costs More Autonomous Public Supply Complex Public Provision Public–Private Partnership Case Assessing and Building Public Agency Capacity Conclusion For Discussion PART IV Doing Policy Analysis 14 Gathering Information for Policy Analysis Document Research Field Research Conclusion For Discussion 15 Landing on Your Feet: Organizing Your Policy Analysis Analyzing Yourself The Client Orientation Steps in Rationalist Policy Analysis Problem Analysis Solution Analysis Communicating Analysis Self-Analysis Once Again: Combining Linear and Nonlinear Approaches Conclusion For Discussion 16 Case Study: The Canadian Pacific Salmon Fishery For Discussion 17 Cost–Benefit Analysis: Assessing Efficiency Preview: CBA of a Juvenile Justice Program Net Benefits and Potential Pareto Improvement Step 1: Specify Current and Alternative Policies Step 2: Specify Whose Costs and Benefits Count Step 3: Catalogue Relevant Impacts Step 4: Predict Impacts over Time Horizon of Policies Step 5: Monetize All Impacts Step 6: Discount Benefits and Costs to Obtain Present Values Step 7: Compute the Present Value of Net Benefits Step 8: Perform Sensitivity Analysis Step 9: Recommend Conclusion For Discussion 18 Public Agency Strategic Analysis: Identifying Opportunities for Increasing Social Value Clarifying Social (Public) Value The External Forces on an Agency Internal Analysis: The Value Creation Process Feasible, Rather than Ideal, Alternatives Conclusion For Discussion PART V Conclusion 19 Doing Well and Doing Good Name Index Subject Index